Southern (train operating company)
Southern is a British train operating company operating the South Central franchise. It is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since August 2001 and the Gatwick Express service since June 2008. Southern operates passenger services from London Bridge and London Victoria to Banstead, Beckenham Junction, Epsom Downs, Epsom, Leatherhead, East Croydon, Sutton, East Grinstead, Uckfield, Caterham, Tattenham Corner, Redhill, , Crawley, Horsham, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Eastbourne and Ore. It also operates services from Brighton to Ashford, Brighton to Seaford, Brighton to Southampton and South Croydon to Milton Keynes. History Connex South Central was awarded the Network SouthCentral franchise by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising. Operations began on 26 May 1996. In March 2000 the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA) announced its intention to relet the franchise from May 2003 with Connex and Govia the shortlisted bidders. In October 2000 the SSRA announced that Govia had been awarded the franchise and would operate it from May 2003. Govia negotiated a deal with Connex to buy out the remainder of its franchise, and this was completed in August 2001. Govia trading as SouthCentral took over operations on 26 August 2001. The franchise was originally to run for twenty years but in 2002 the Strategic Rail Authority changed the way it wanted investment funded, and Govia was awarded a seven-and-a-half-year franchise until December 2009. In May 2004 the franchise was rebranded as Southern in a deliberate recall of the pre-nationalisation Southern Railway, using a green roundel logo with Southern in yellow in a green bar. In April 2007 the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the South Central franchise. This was part of a plan to increase capacity on the Brighton Main Line, involving the extension of peak-hour services from Gatwick to Brighton and Eastbourne from December 2008. This doubled the number of London to Brighton express trains during those periods. In December 2008 took over the services on the Redhill to Tonbridge Line from Southeastern. The South Central franchise end date was brought forward to September 2009 upon the integration of the Gatwick Express service, to allow the new operator to be in place during major changes to the timetable in and around South London in December 2009. In the run-up to the bidding process for the franchise, reports emerged suggesting that Transport for London, the operator of the London Overground service, wished to take control of all overground services in South London, including the 'Metro' area of the South Central franchise. However, such a transfer never took place and the DfT put out the entire franchise for tender. In August 2008 the DfT shortlisted Abellio, Govia, National Express, NedRail and Stagecoach for the new South Central franchise. In June 2009 the DfT announced that Govia had retained the franchise, to start on 20 September 2009. The Department for Transport has stated that, at the conclusion of the Southern franchise in July 2015, the South Central franchise will be merged into the proposed Thameslink Great Northern franchise. In March 2012 the Department for Transport announced that Abellio, FirstGroup, Govia, MTR and Stagecoach had been shortlisted for the new Thameslink Southern Great Northern franchise. The Invitation to Tender was to be issued in October 2012, with the successful bidder announced in spring 2013. However, in the wake of the InterCity West Coast refranchising process collapsing, the government announced in October 2012 that the process would be put on hold pending the results of a review. In December 2012 Southern's to via service ceased, being partially replaced by London Overground's new to service. In January 2015, Southern had hit controversy when it revealed that a 7.29am Brighton to London Victoria train failed to get in on time on any occasion out of all 240 attempts in 2014. Later in May 2015, it was revealed that Southern had fined passengers for standing in the first class of the overcrowded train. Only 20% of Southern trains arrived on time in the year from April 2015 to March 2016, and there was an ongoing industrial dispute over driver-only operated trains. In late 2016, the Transport Select Committee told ministers to get a grip of the rail franchises, with their report asking if the train operator was in breach of the contractual obligations due to the large numbers of cancelled trains, and went on to say "In normal circumstances, this would be the grounds of terminating the contract". In 2016, the company introduced an "amended timetable that would be a temporary measure until staffing returned to normal" to be announced on 5 July. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) trade union said that 350 services would be cancelled everyday (the company ran 2,242 services in the previous timetable). The company said it had insufficient personnel, and too many were taking sick leave; the union denied that high levels of sickness were the cause of cancellations, while agreeing that there were an insufficient number of guards and drivers. The government, Department for Transport said that the situation was unacceptable. While the company was obliged to notify the Department in advance, this did not amount to giving the company permission for the changes. The RMT union general secretary Mick Cash said that the government had permitted GTR to introduce the emergency timetable, but that it was "nothing to do with staff sickness and everything to do with gross mismanagement of this franchise and the failure to employ enough guards and drivers. ... a cynical and cowardly ploy" The London Evening Standard mentioned Southern that in an article in June 2016 "Southern rail suggests commuter goes on 100 mile detour to Clapham instead of her normal six minute journey". In June 2016, amongst the criticism of the performance of the services, Go-Ahead warned of lower than anticipated profits for the Govia Thameslink Railway franchises, leading to an 18% drop in the Go-Ahead share price. From 31 October 2016, Southern resumed its full weekday timetable. In 2016, Southern altered the method of driver only operation, with control of doors moving from the conductor to the driver. Southern said this would be to allow the conductor to concentrate on the passengers, but the RMT and the ASLEF unions said that it was an attempt to make conductors unnecessary and would be unsafe. The rail safety regulator, the Rail Standards and Safety Board has said that "We have 30 years of data which we have analysed. We have found that the driver performing the task does not increase the risk to passengers at all." In 2016, the RMT and ASLEF unions went on strike over the changes, causing disruption to Southern services. These strikes have continued until 2017. The BBC suggested that the RMT union are practically worried about the new method of operation because if drivers (rather than conductors) control the doors when trains could run without conductors, and thus any strike by conductors would not have the power to cancel trains. In December 2016, it was announced that the government would pay $90 million to the Southern to cover the costs of the disruption caused by the strikes, due to a deal between the government and the Southern. This deal means that the government pays $38 million of the lost revenue and $15 million in compensation to the passengers. This deal also means that the Govia Thameslink Railway will save around $1.1 billion in pay for striking workers. Commentators argue that the government gave a managemental contract rather than a normal franchise to the GTR to push through to the DOO. The managemental contract meant that the GTR did not have the incentive to resolve strikes as the normal franchises would have, as the government lost money from the strikes rather than the GTR. On 2 February 2017, the TUC announced that the talks between the Southern and the ASLEF has reached an agreement meaning that the dispute with the ASLEF has been resolved. However, the RMT has said that it was 'betrayed' by Southern, strikes by an RMT would continue. Commencing 29 June 2017, the ASLEF had implemented an overtime ban, aiming to highlight the claimed failure by Southern to recruit adequate staff. Routes The network of services operated by Southern includes local suburban ("Metro") services in South London and regional services extending into the southern Home Counties. All routes are south of the river Thames, with the exception of the West London service, which crosses the city via Shepherd's Bush and runs up the West Coast Mainline to Milton Keynes. Along with the Thameslink route, this provides one of the few long-distance National Rail routes to run right across London instead of terminating at one of the London rail termini. Southern routes which do not serve London include the West Coastway and East Coastway Lines along the south coast of Sussex, Kent and Hampshire. Details of each route, including maps and timetables, are on Southern's website (see External links, below). Its routes off-peak Monday to Saturday, with frequencies in trains per hour, include: Rolling stock South Central inherited a fleet of Class 205, Class 207, Class 319, Class 421, Class 423, Class 455 and Class 456 multiple-unit trains from Connex South Central. Southern inherited a Class 73 locomotive and [[British Rail Class 460|Class 460 Juniper]] trains from Gatwick Express. A franchise commitment was to replace all the Mark 1 slam-door stock, resulting in Southern ordering 28 three-car, 139 four-car and 15 four-car dual-voltage [[British Rail Class 377|Class 377 Electrostars]] in September 2001 and March 2002 to replace the Class 421, Class 422 and Class 423s. In August 2002 Southern ordered nine two-car and six four-car [[British Rail Class 171|Class 171 Turbostars]] to replace the Class 205s and Class 207s. In 2006 a tenth two-car Class 171 was transferred from South West Trains. In 2007 Southern ordered 12 four-car, dual-voltage [[British Rail Class 377|Class 377/5 Electrostars]] to replace the remaining twelve Class 319s for transfer to First Capital Connect. In March 2008 Go Ahead purchased (rather than lease through a ROSCO) a further 11 Class 377/5s. All 23 ended up being sublet to First Capital Connect to provide extra stock for the Thameslink Programme Key Output Zero changes from March 2009. To provide stock for the extended Gatwick Express services to Brighton, in 2008 Southern leased 17 [[British Rail Class 442|Class 442 Wessex Electrics]] withdrawn by South West Trains in early 2007. After retaining the franchise in 2009, Southern leased the remaining seven Class 442s. The last of the Class 460 Junipers were withdrawn in September 2012. To release Class 377/3s for use on London suburban services, Southern introduced a fleet of ex-London Overground Class 313s on the Coastway lines from May 2010. In 2011 Southern announced that, because of delays in procuring new trains for the Thameslink Programme, the 23 Class 377/5s on sub-lease to First Capital Connect would not be returned in time to deliver the operator's planned capacity increases from the December 2013 timetable change. It therefore began a process to procure 130 new vehicles. It was announced in December 2011 that Bombardier had been contracted to supply 26 five-car Class 377/6s. In November 2012 it was announced that an option for a further 40 vehicles was being exercised. All twenty-four Class 456 sets are to be transferred to South West Trains in 2014 after the introduction of the Class 377/6 fleet. Current fleet Future fleet Past fleet Depots Southern's fleet is maintained at Brighton Lovers Walk and Selhurst depots. The Gatwick Express fleet is maintained at Stewarts Lane. Future Southern, as part of its successful bid for the South Central franchise in 2009, made several commitments to improving services across the network. These included: *Increasing the length of suburban services in South London to 10 cars between 2011 and 2013 *Increasing the service level on all routes in South London to 4 trains per hour (tph) until 23:00 each day, and the introduction of late-night services on Fridays and Saturdays *The introduction of an hourly service on Sundays between Brighton and Southampton Central, and an increase in the number of late-night services between Brighton and Worthing *The introduction of late-night services on the London to Uckfield route *Installation of new ticket gates at 22 stations across the network *Increasing the number of car-parking spaces at stations by 1,000 and the number of cycle spaces by 1,500 *Cleaning and refreshing of all stations and trains on the network *Major refurbishments to seven stations: , , , , , and *Class 456 units are to be transferred to South West Trains in 2014 after the 26 new 5-car Class 377/6 fleet enters service with Southern in 2013 Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) The Thameslink and Great Northern franchises are to be merged with the South Central franchise when the current contract expires in July 2015. The Thameslink and Great Northern franchises were due to expire on 14 September 2013 but following the difficulties with refranchising the West Coast Mainline this was delayed. The contract now ends in September 2014, when the winner of the TSGN franchise will take over. The South Central franchise will be merged into this when it expires in 2015. Southern has ordered 116 Class 377 Electrostar carriages which, if it wins the franchise, could be used on the Thameslink franchise until the new Class 700s are delivered. Southern's parent company Govia operated the Thameslink franchise from March 1997 to March 2006. Uckfield-Lewes line The franchise consultation paper released at the beginning of the 2009 franchising process stated that the ultimate franchise agreement would include a change mechanism to enable the DfT to incorporate additional routes into the South Central franchise, and it invited bidders to submit priced options for schemes put forward by stakeholders. One such scheme could, as indicated in the South Central Franchise Consultation Paper, be the reopening of the Uckfield – Lewes line, closed in 1969. In recent years, several interested parties have been examining the possibility of reopening the line. The Key Smart Card In 2012 Southern became the first rail company in England to use the ITSO card on its network. The Key is a smartcard similar to Transport for London's Oyster Card. Tickets for the smartcard are only available in Single, Return, Weekly, Monthly and Annual Season tickets. Southern plans to add a Pay-As-You-Go option in the near future, but tests on this are still in progress. There are three types of The Key smartcards: Child, Adult and Staff. All child smartcards need a photograph to prove the age of the holder, while adults who wish to use their smartcard only for single and return tickets do not require a picture. The Key is insured so if lost or stolen it can be de-activated and the tickets transferred to a new card sent out in the post. The Key allows customers to buy Plusbus for the Crawley and Brighton areas. This is because Metrobus (which operates in Crawley) and Brighton and Hove Buses are owned by Go-Ahead Group, Southern's parent company. Brighton & Hove Buses also use The Key on their buses but it is not possible to use a B&H bus key on Southern and vice versa at the moment unless using Plusbus. Southern is looking to change this by the end of 2013. The Key operates only at stations managed by Southern and outside of London because it is not currently compatible with the Oystercard readers. Southern has been working with Transport for London and the Department for Transport to change this, and the Oystercard readers should be compatible by December 2013. Southern operated a pilot for The Key between Brighton and Seaford in 2010 as these stations are served only by Southern trains (with the exception of Brighton). This was a success and so in 2012 it began to gradually expand across the network. Originally the only ticket type available on The Key was season tickets; in August 2013 Southern added Return and Single tickets to The Key. Criticism In early 2006, Southern became the focus of attention from cyclists' groups as a result of its policy prohibiting the carriage of ordinary cycles during peak hours on trains destined for London and Brighton. Southern and sister company Southeastern were criticised in January 2007 for not wishing to introduce Oyster Pay As You Go on its London routes, stating that it was not financially viable. In 2007 Southern introduced Oyster on its Watford Junction to Clapham Junction route, and the company later agreed in principle to the introduction of Oyster across its network, but did not give any firm timescale, managing director Chris Burchell saying "There are still a number of outstanding issues that need to be discussed with TfL, but we do not believe these will prevent us making PAYG a reality on our network. We look forward to discussions with TfL on how we can make this happen as soon as possible for our passengers." In its successful franchise bid in 2009, Southern said it was committed to rolling out Oyster Pay As You Go in the London area, but also that such a move was subject to industry agreement. Since 2 January 2010, Oyster Pay As You Go has been valid on all its London routes, along with most other train services in the London area. Timetables Southern was criticised for major changes to its timetables in December 2007 and December 2008. In December 2007, Southern changed the arrangement for the splitting of services to and from London Victoria on the Arun Valley Line, opting to split trains at Horsham rather than Barnham. Some passengers criticised this change as it increased the journey time to and from London by up to 10 minutes from certain stations, while in the event of services running behind schedule, trains were sometimes not split at Horsham, and proceeded non-stop to Barnham, leaving Arun Valley commuters at Horsham with the prospect of no onward trains. In December 2008 further timetable changes included the introduction of the extended Gatwick Express services. However, reliability and timekeeping on some of the new services were considered poor, leading to several public meetings being held. On 22 January 2009, Southern responded to some of these criticisms. During 2009 these services have recorded improved timekeeping and criticisms have since subsided. The new timetable also led to unhappiness due to the difference in speed and frequency of service between East Coastway services and those on the Brighton Main Line. December 2010 timetable Further changes to the timetable were made in December 2010; the first timetable change to include many of the requirements of the new franchise. Additional services were included at evenings and weekends. In the London area a 'metro' frequency of service was introduced on most routes with the extension of the weekday daytime four-trains-per-hour norm to late evenings (up to around midnight), Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, new late-night services were introduced from London on Friday and Saturday nights with last trains leaving central London at around 00:30. Outside London, a new later-evening service was introduced to Uckfield from London Bridge, new late-night services from Brighton along the west coastway and direct services between Southampton and Brighton on Sundays. Southern's plans for enhanced services between Victoria and Brighton with a new four-trains-per-hour frequency were rejected at the last minute by the Office of Rail Regulation. See also *Rail transport in the United Kingdom *Commuter rail in the United Kingdom External links *Information about Southern on National Rail Enquiries *A Map of Southern's Routes Category:Go-Ahead Group companies Category:Rail transport in East Sussex Category:Rail transport in West Sussex Category:Rail transport in Surrey Category:SNCF Category:Rail transport in Kent Category:Railway operators in London Category:Rail transport in Hampshire Category:Airport rail links in London Category:Train operating companies